Sunday would have been Milk’s 81st birthday. The San Francisco supervisor and gay rights leader was shot and killed, as was Mayor George Moscone, by another supervisor in 1978.

“In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man in the history of the United States to be elected to public office,” Brown’s proclamation reads in part. “This milestone achievement gave hope to millions of gays and lesbians across the country that a day would come when they could live their lives openly and honestly without fear of discrimination.”

In 2008, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a measure that would have made May 22 a “day of special significance” in public schools. But a year later, when a similar measure — also by San Francisco State Sen. Mark Leno — landed on his desk, the governor signed it. A spokesman said at the time that Schwarzenegger’s mind was changed by President Obama’s awarding Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom and an Academy Award-winning film about Milk’s life.

In making the declaration Friday, Brown — who was governor when Milk was shot — cited his work on San Francisco’s landmark Gay Rights Ordinance and campaign against a proposition known as the Briggs Initiative, which would have required California school districts to fire openly gay and lesbian teachers.

“The proposition was defeated in the November 1978 election in part because Harvey successfully appealed to Californians’ basic sense of fairness,” Brown’s proclamation read.

Gay rights groups praised the recognition being bestowed on Milk more than three decades later.

“At a time when society forced many to lead fearful, closeted lives, Harvey Milk dared to hope for a time when LGBT people could live freely and equally,” Equality California Interim Executive Director Jim Carroll said in a written statement. “Harvey knew that the only way to change hearts and minds was for LGBT people and their allies to come out, and to share our stories.”